Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Due to heavy to torrential rains in the SE QLD and Northern NSW areas all airports of BNA,OOL,BNE and MCY have been closed at various times.BNE has had 2 AirAsia X diversions from OOL(Same plane plus numerous REX from BNA and Jetstar and Tiger and Virgin Blue from OOL.OOL have had diversions from BNE and BNA.MCY have received diversions from BNE as well.The weather is improving and there is a glimmer of sunlight from tomorrow?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Brisbane airport pax figures showed another steady increase in November.Int pax were 344,607 3.2% growthDom pax were 1,347,139 a 8.2% growth and 1,151 transits which totals 1,692,897 a 7.5% total growth.Looking very much like 19.75 million pax this calendar year-just awaiting December figures.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

MEDIA RELEASE

30th November 2010

The Board of Solomon Airlines Ltd today announced approval of a proposal to dry lease an Airbus A320-212 aircraft for its international and regional operations.

The new lease has been arranged through a major capital management consortium and will be effective from the end of the current ACMI lease with Strategic between 24th February 2011 and 27th March 2011. This will also correspond with the normal change of schedules for the Northern Summer period as is the case with all International Airlines.

The new arrangement gives Solomon Airlines far greater control over its future destiny including use of “Solomons” livery but more importantly allows the airline to comply with recent amendments to IATA membership qualifications.

The move also coincides with the significant progress being made within the airline following Governments approval to implement the initial restructure plan put forward by the Board in December 2008 and thereby has placed the airline in a far better financial position to take up the dry lease option.

The cabin will be exclusively manned by Solomon Airlines personnel who have already been trained on this aircraft type by Strategic Airlines. Similarly attention is being given to the important customer service areas both in-flight and throughout the operation as a whole.

Solomon Airlines currently operates three services per week out of Brisbane moving to a fourth service from next Sunday (5th December 2010). The move has been taken to meet the projected increase in passenger numbers. Under the existing lease arrangements with Strategic, the airline would have to meet significantly higher additional service costs to cover the extra flight whereas operational costs reduce proportionately the more the airline utilises its own aircraft.

Seating arrangements for the new aircraft differ in providing for 20 business class seats, as opposed to 12 on the Strategic aircraft and provides cabin cupboard space forward of business class compartment. The number of economy seats reduces from 144 to 120 to give greater leg room in this class. In-flight entertainment including movies, music and destination service information will also be available on the new service in addition to the high standard in-flight catering service.

Monday, December 6, 2010

QANTASLINK EXPANDS Q400 OPERATIONS TO BLACKALL AND BARCALDINEBrisbane, 6 December 2010: QantasLink announced today it would launch its flagship Bombardier Q400regional aircraft on its Blackall and Barcaldine routes from early February 2011.QantasLink Executive Manager, Mr Narendra Kumar, said the introduction of the Q400 service would increasefrequency from two services per week to three per week. The additional flights would also reduce flying timesto and from Brisbane to less than two hours on these services.“This is a significant increase in flight frequency and capacity for these important Western Queenslandcentres,” Mr Kumar said.“Our new schedule will offer more choice and greater convenience – for travel to and from Brisbane andconnections to the broader Qantas Group domestic and international networks.”QantasLink currently operates two flights per week to each town. The airline will add the extra service eachweek to Blackall from 9 February and to Barcaldine from 12 February.The Blackall schedule will cover flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with the new Q400 services tooperate every Wednesday. The Barcaldine schedule will cover flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays,with the new Q400 service operating every Saturday.The move will follow the completion of upgrades to the airports at both Barcaldine and Blackall.Mr Kumar said the Blackall and Barcaldine airport upgrades were a collaborative funding effort by theQueensland Government in partnership with Blackall-Tambo and Barcaldine Regional Councils.“QantasLink has been flying to these communities for just over nine years, and in Qantas’ 90th year, thisincrease in services and capacity is a firm indication of our commitment to the Western Queensland regulatedroutes and the growth of these regions,” he said.“I would like to thank both the Blackall-Tambo and Barcaldine Regional Councils for ensuring the recent airportupgrades were completed in time for the airline’s Q400 expansion plans. Modern airport infrastructure is soimportant to the ongoing viability of regional air services.”As the country’s largest regional airline, QantasLink is embedded in regional Australia. With a network of 53metropolitan and country destinations across all states and territories.